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Application Recent History

H

Home-Skillet

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 21, 2011
12
0
United Kingdom
When running Lion on my mac, it now shows the last 10 files opened in any given application. For example, when I right-click VLC in my dock, it shows a list of recent files.

How can this be cleared? It's damn annoying!

Thanks
 
Same, I have tried changing the settings under General, however this doesn't clear what is already there.
Anyone know how to clear this??
 
Home-Skillet said:
When running Lion on my mac, it now shows the last 10 files opened in any given application. For example, when I right-click VLC in my dock, it shows a list of recent files.

How can this be cleared? It's damn annoying!

Thanks
Click to expand...

I too, found this annoying. A quick fix is to enter the application you want to clear recent history from e.g. VLC, and scroll down in the menu on the top bar, for that application, and click, 'recent items' and then click clear. :)
 
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natd1993 said:
I too, found this annoying. A quick fix is to enter the application you want to clear recent history from e.g. VLC, and scroll down in the menu on the top bar, for that application, and click, 'recent items' and then click clear. :)
Click to expand...

This clears the recent items in the apple menu, but then if I right-click VLC, the ten most recent files played in VLC still remain there... what now? :(
 
Home-Skillet said:
This clears the recent items in the apple menu, but then if I right-click VLC, the ten most recent files played in VLC still remain there... what now? :(
Click to expand...

Clicking on the following option, and then closing the application and waiting for ten seconds seems to work for me. You sure you're doing it right? :)

screenshot20110721at120.jpg
 
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I have MPlayerX (AppStore) and the VLC trick doesnt work here. For some reason even though the recent history has been cleared in the app itself, it still shows up.e
edit: nevermind, its gone somehow
 
Running Lion on my mac. "Recently opened files in any given application". I read with interest the answers to this thread. I too noticed this odd behaviour. To date I have always cleared the recent files via - file - open recent - clear menu and yes this does clear these files at this point. However as per "anthorumor" I agree that right clicking on an app., such as text edit or preview for example strait away or at some later time. The list of recently used files still show up. Has anybody come across a fix for this yet. Or am I missing something here.

PS: In preview I have on occasion deleted several photos and these are still listed after supposedly clearing the list.
 
Go to ~/Library/Preferences. Find the preference file for the app (Preview is com.apple.preview for example). There should be a second preference file for each app with "LSSharedFileList.plist" appended to the end. Delete that "xxx.LSSharedFileList.plist" file.

You'll have to kill the Dock in Activity Monitor or in the Terminal, but it does clear them.
 
I think that the latest version of TinkerTool (4.7) has an option to disable recent application history.

TinkerTool - General Pane - Application Features: Number of entries in Recent Items menues: (set drop down menu to...) Don't use Recent Items menues

TinkerTool is free and this seems to solve the visible history issues.

Hope this is of use.
 
What do you guys find so annoying about it? I applaud Apple for copying this from Windows 7. It looks much nicer on Lion though. :) The fact that you can initiate a specific screen sharing session or select some VM, or get back to a document you had recently open in an app, all by just swiping over its Dock icon, without having to open the app first, seems super-useful to me. And it further blurs the line between closed and running apps.
To each his own of course...

vms.png
 
People really will complain about anything and everything won't they...how is recent files annoying????? Are you watching porn and don't want anyone to see what you've been watching? Thats the only thing I can think of.

BTW, I didn't even know about this feature!! That is awesome! Thanks for the roundabout tip!
 
gentlefury said:
Are you watching porn and don't want anyone to see what you've been watching? Thats the only thing I can think of.
Click to expand...

Anything you don't want people to see, you should just put in an encrypted disk image. Whatever files were opened from it will not be listed anymore once the image has been ejected.

EDIT: Never mind, it looks like I'm wrong about this. The file name will still appear, albeit without an icon preview.
 
Our household runs an 'open' Mac.No individual sign-ins etc. The youngest child is only twelve and they are free to use the Mac as and when they wish. The oldest teen is eighteen and I have a penchant for european cinema. I rip my own DVDs to watch via a media centre and therefore often have legitimate, legal films on the mac that I would not wish the youngest member of the family to accidentally open. I'm not sure I'd want her opening Ridicule http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117477/ or Nikita http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100263/ and watching the first ten, minuets of either film.

I find the often made insinuations that anyone wishing to hide or toggle off history menues is automatically trying to hide porn or that as the purchaser and user of a computer I cannot or should not legitimately use it in any manner I feel suits those of us in the household that use it, mildly offensive.
 
rorschach said:
Go to ~/Library/Preferences. Find the preference file for the app (Preview is com.apple.preview for example). There should be a second preference file for each app with "LSSharedFileList.plist" appended to the end. Delete that "xxx.LSSharedFileList.plist" file.

You'll have to kill the Dock in Activity Monitor or in the Terminal, but it does clear them.
Click to expand...

Thanks man :) saved me hours of searching around !
 
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